I have been told GJ Gardner in Ipswich are quite good.  I have used them in Toowoomba.  I think from a quality point of view its best to stay away from Dixon and Co.  The alternative is to go through the phone book or using forums such as this.  Give a builder a call and ask if you could have a look at some of his recent work.

Hi Ben,
                 I too am new to the area of developments and had the same question myself aup until early this year until a mate and I sat down and looked through hundreds of properties all over Australia.  We looked closely at some conducting feasibilities etc etc. It is definately possible but you are right there are deals out there that don't stack up but people still buy them.

I have found that to get the ball rolling it is best to start off in areas that are a fair bit cheaper.  ie Satellite Citys. This keeps your initial cost down. Areas that I tend to look at are Ipswich, Toowomba, Ballarat, Bendigo, Burnie, Devonport, Launceston. These areas often have larger blocks that can be subdivided and developed.   In esscence by subdividing you get a block of land for around 20K.  The 20K being for subdivision costs. 

Where land is bought only I have found for a small development 2-3 units the figures do not stack up.  And the more units you put on the land (pending council zoning) the more risk involved for the bank particularly if you are small developer like myself.  My best advice to get started is to do a subdivision and put 2 units on the rear block or even a house if the figures stack up.

Banks are being very tight on developments at this point in time.  Another major hurdle is convincing them you have enough income to service the loan during building.  Which once again limits how many units quality you can build in turn affecting the 20% figure.

You could also consider keeping one if selling one gives you enough cash to start up another project.

My bank has mentioned that after this current development (I wish to keep them) I will have to reduce my debt somewhere along the line.  I have decided that I am going to sell one of my existing properties which is post war home.  The main reason for choosing this one (other than it underperforming) is that the depreciation benefit is no where near as good as it will be on the new units.  I will continue this process where require.  Sell older property to keep new property.

I have heard Carly talk about Option agreements which are great but hard to source when you are starting out.

Keep asking questions and talking to like minded people it is the only way to learn.  Michael Yardneys book is a good read and there is also a online Chapter 27 Developments which isn't included in the book. 

All the best.